Pfizer [Get Quote], a United States-based pharmaceutical giant, is looking to cut costs by outsourcing as much as 30 per cent of its manufacturing to facilities in Asia, particularly in India and China.

New York-based Pfizer now outsources about 15 per cent of its manufacturing capabilities. The company aims to double that figure, as part of cost-cutting measures.

Pfizer, which announced the plan at an investor presentation in Hong Kong, also said it would expand its research and development investments in China, India, Japan and South Korea.

The company, which has major operations in New Jersey, announced earlier this year it would save $2 billion by cutting its global work force 10 per cent, or about 10,000 jobs.

"For a lot of this work, it makes sense to outsource to lower-cost areas, from New York or elsewhere in the US to Asia," said Martin Mackay, head of Pfizer's global research and development.

Mackay said Asia was key to the company because the region's pharmaceutical market would grow to $200 billion by 2017.

Pfizer, which spent $7.6 billion on research and development last year, currently has 80 research studies under way in Asia, according to Mackay.

The outsourcing plans follow Pfizer's announcement at the beginning of the year that it would close manufacturing sites in Brooklyn, New York and Omaha, Neb. and sell a third manufacturing site in Feucht, Germany.